And now, friends, an even more significant part of our culinary lives is under threat.

Something we can all cook. Something we can all eat.

The price of pasta and tomato sauce is rocketing. In fact, the cost has almost risen 20% in the past year.

According to mySupermarket, tinned tomatoes, puree and passata are the worst hit, with prices increasing on average from January 2017 to January 2018 – meaning we’re now paying around 30p more per product.

Like the other shortages, this might be down to weather-induced fruit and veg shortages; tomatoes, in particular, were in short supply last year due to poor harvests.

As for pasta, packets have gone up about 17p per packet – meaning that if you just want a bowl of penne and tomato sauce, the whole lot is going to cost you 47p extra to make this year.

(Picture: mySupermarket)

Researchers found the biggest price hikes across supermarkets by looking at figures from Asda, Ocado, Tesco and Sainsbury’s, with cakes, salads and pre-cut veg also suffering.

The good news, however, is that a few products are actually cheaper this year, including baby care products (7% cheaper), frozen Yorkshire puds (-8%) and laundry products (-10%).